‘We could have lost everything’

Firefighters battle mid-morning grass fire in Garlands Crossing as flames race towards homes

A grass fire near the entrance of Underwood Road in Garlands Crossing had firefighters rushing to contain the blaze before it could spread to nearby homes.

The Brooklyn Fire Department was paged out to Underwood Road at approximately 11:25 a.m. April 12.

Thick grey smoke could be seen from Wentworth Road in Windsor mere moments later.

Both the Windsor Fire Department and Hantsport Fire Department responded with mutual aid.

The fire was knocked down around 12: 15 p. m. Nobody was injured.

But for Cindy Porter, whose residence was in the direct path of the blaze, it was a terrifying experience.

“I was just finishing with a client in my hair shop and I happened to look at the window and I just saw the flames, and I thought, ‘ oh, there seems to be a fire out in the field, I wonder if anyone is watching it?’” Porter said. “Before I knew it, it was just coming towards us.”

Porter acted fast, getting her client, husband and dog out of the house as the flames inched closer and closer.

“Watching it coming closer and closer was just terrifying,” she said, adding that she thought her house was going to burn down.

She said it took a matter of minutes for the fire to spread from her neighbour’s property, across a small field, to her house.

“I was almost in tears,” she said as fire trucks maneuvered up and down the street.

Porter’s husband, Jeff Porter, said he inspected the side of the building after the fire was out and he said he didn’t notice any obvious damage or warping of the siding.

Jeff Porter thanked the fire departments for their quick response.

“We could have lost everything, just like that,” Cindy Porter said, her voice breaking. “It’s really scary.”

Brooklyn’s deputy fire chief Jason Cochrane said the cause of the fire is unknown at this time, but added that the incredibly dry grass could have been ignited by anything from a cigarette to a wayward ember or spark.

“We needed quite a bit of equipment and personnel on site, just to run the hose lines,” Cochrane said.

Cochrane said as the fire spread, it caught on to some debris, including wood, tires and derelict vehicles, which caused the thick, dark smoke.

No structures were damaged, he said.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CINDY PORTER Cindy Porter watched nervously as the flames from a brush fire grew closer to her home on Underwood Road in Garlands Crossing April 12.

COLIN CHISHOLM Cindy Porter, standing next to her husband, Jeff Porter, said she was terrified as the brush fire inched closer and closer to her home.